Never to Young to Survivel

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THE

JOURNA

Never Too Young to Survive

By Rick Randolph March 2013

In todays world, your kids might need to be their own bodyguards in an emergency.Parent, police ocer and CrossFit Deense coach Rick Randolph explains how to prepareyour children or a lie-threatening situation.

AllPhotos:SallyRandolph

I play ght with my kids a lotslap boxing, wrestling them on the bed. The two oldest love it; the baby just paws at

my ace and giggles. They drop down into ghting stancessts clenched, hands upand sneer. My 7-year-old

daughter likes to throw a jab-cross-hook combo and nish with a knee. She hit me with it the other day and said,

Im gonna kick your ass! I mean, butt. Sorry, dad.


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Te problem or my kidsand

most people or that matteris

the way they see a win. A win,

in a sel-deense situation, is

getting home sae.

But they also know we are playing and dad is not going all

out. They know they cant beat me in a real ght.

The problem is they have no idea what a real ght is. They

think real ghts are the videos o dad in a cage with a

reeree and an opponent. They know they cant beat me

there. In act, my 10-year-old son thinks dad can beat up

anyone in the world i I want. He thinks Im invincible.

It recently occurred to me that I spend all this time coaching

other peoples kids on sel-deense, and I wondered i I

do enough training with my own. I hadnt even talked to

them about the December 2012 shootings at Sandy Hook

Elementary School in Connecticut.

How to Win

I asked my kids, Who would win a real ght between a

200-lb. man and a 10-year-old girl? They were sure the girl

would lose. I asked why. They explained the man is too

big and strong and could hurt the girl i she ought him. I

asked what a win would look like or the girl. They said shewould have to beat up the man, maybe give him a bloody

nose or a black eye.

The problem, I explained to them, was the way they

envisioned a win. They thought a win looked like a reeree

holding both ghters hands, then raising the winners.

They saw a win as holding the bad guy down until the

police got there to take him to jail. Thats when I showed

them a video o an attempted abduction o a 10-year-old

girl by a real bad guy.

In the video, the bad guy approaches a group o children

on the street rom behind and grabs a girl. She ails,

screams and kicks until the bad guy decides the kid isntworth the efort. He drops her and runs away. I asked my

kids i that was a real ght. Both, wide-eyed, said it was. I

asked who won. The little girl, they both said.

We need to teach our kids that in the realworld, winning means survival.


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Hell, yeah. I that was the equivalent o a UFC ght, the

reeree was raising that little girls hand while doctors

attended to an unconscious bad guy. Shed have her

picture on a cereal box. Upset o the year. Huge win. But it

happens. Every day.

The problem or my kidsand most people or that

matteris the way they see a win. A win, in a sel-deensesituation, is getting home sae. Bad guys dont want a ght,

I told them; they want a victim. You dont have to beat

a bad guy; you have to give him a ght. I you give them

a ght, most bad guys will go nd a victim. Thats how a

10-year-old gets her hand raised in victory. Thats how she

wins against a grown man. I told them the secret about

bad guys that my coach, Tony Blauer, taught me: bad guys

dont want to get hurt, dont want to get caught and dont

want it to take too long. Make one o those three things

happen and you can win.

If It Was Fight or Die, Id Fight Him

And then came Sandy Hook.

I didnt know what to tell my kids. That bad guy didnt

care about getting hurt or caught. I thought maybe it was

better not to tell them. My boy is a bit o a worrier and an

over-thinker. I have ound, however, that his worry is oten

eliminated i he has a plan. So we made one.

I started with statistics and said it would probably never

happen to them. I told them we were just talking about it

on the of chance it ever did.

I told them there were three things they needed to do i a

bad guy came to their school:

First, I told them to run away. I they could do so saely,

they should run as ast and as ar as they could until they

couldnt hear any gunshots. I told them the rules no longer

applied. I the principal normally said they werent allowed

to climb a certain ence or go in a certain area or cross a

street, now they were allowed to do so. I told them when

it comes to sel-deense in a worst-case scenario, do what

you have to do. When teachers and administrators who

are responsible or accurate headcounts are not around or

incapacitated, I told my kids I wanted them out o there as

ast as possible while still being sae. When teachers and

administrators arent available to help, make your own best

decisions, I told them.

Im not sure who taught me this or where I got it rom, but

I tell my kids i something bad is happening and they cant

nd their parents or someone they know, run to any mom

or help. Moms have an amazing protective instinct, and

Im pretty sure i any kid ran to my wie and told her some

creep was trying to get him, shed do whatever she could

to protect him. Moms are crazy that wayawesome crazy.

Second, I told them to hide i they couldnt run. I told them

to nd a place to go where no one would nd them, then

get small and get quieta trash can, a closet, somewhere

out o sight. I told them bad guys like that wont be

searching every crevice; they are looking or quick, easy

targets.

Finally, I told themas I watched my wie swallow hard

that i they had no other choice, they should ght.

You want me to ght a grown-up with a gun? my son

asked.

I you cant get away or hide, what else can you do? Iasked.

I it was ght or die, Id ght him, he replied.

I told my kids to get the teacher to help. I told them to

grab other kids to helpI want to do a drill to see how

many 10-year-olds it requires to take me down. I told them

to grab scissors, baseball bats, chairs, whatever they could

nd. My son nodded. So did my daughter. I explained that

their job was to get home to see their mom and me. Like

Coach Blauer says, Even kids might need to be their own

bodyguards.

Finally, I told themas I

watched my wie swallow

hardthat i they had no other

choice, they should fght.


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Its unthinkable I even had to discuss it with a 10- and

7-year-old. In act, as the time grew between us and Sandy

Hook, it started to seem less important.

But then I read a story about a woman in New Jersey who

saved hersel rom an attacker who broke into her house,

as well as a report about another high-school student who

brought a shotgun to school in Southern Caliornia andwas conronted by two teachers. And I remembered the

things I wantthe things we needkids to know.

I want to put my kids in a bubble and not let anyone touch

them, but I know that isnt realistic. I want to assure them a

shooting or abduction would never happen, but, honestly,

I cant. I want them to get to be kids and not have to worry

about all that garbage and sickness in the world, but

what I really need them to know and understand is that

ultimately, even at 10 and 7 years old, they are responsible

or their own saety. Even though its dicult or dads and

moms to think about, its the least we can do.

My son said it best, Being a dad isnt always easy, but its

your job.

Its our duty to protect them andmore importantlyto

teach them to protect themselves.

About the Author

Rick Randolph is a CrossFit Level 1 and CrossFit Kids trainer.

He trains at CrossFit Anywhere in Folsom, Cali. He is a

CrossFit Deense Coach and a Blauer Tactical Systems SPEAR

law-enorcement and military coach, a Personal Deense

Readiness coach, and a member o Tony Blauers mobile

Training Team. He is a ull-time police ofcer and deensive-

tactics trainer at the Roseville Police Department.

Ultimately, even at 10 and

7 years old, my kids are

responsible or their own saety.

First, run. Second, hide. Then, when theres noother option, fght.

Never to Young to Survivel

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